Brau Union loses major beer account in Salzburg: 2000 hl gone

Austria | A spectacular change in the beer landscape: Salzburg's traditional Sternbräu beer hall, one of Austria's largest on-premise accounts, has terminated its beer supply contract with Brau Union and is switching to local brewer Stiegl.

Carlsberg claims barley variety as its “invention”. Resistance is mounting.

Germany | Independent breweries in Austria and Germany are sounding the alarm and fear for the diversity of beer. The reason: The Danish brewer is claiming barley plants from classic breeding and their use for brewing beer as its “invention” and has been granted a patent (EP2575433 B1) at the European Patent Office (EPO) in Munich. This means that all other breweries have to pay license fees if they want to use this patented barley.

Number of breweries in Germany declines again

Germany | Massive cost increases are causing more and more breweries to go out of business. Over the past five years, the number of breweries in Germany has fallen by 93. This corresponds to a decline of 6 percent. According to the Federal Statistical Office, there were only 1459 breweries operating in 2024. This past year alone, 52 brewery businesses failed.

Russia | Propaganda, misinformation or fake news? According to the Russian newssite Kommersant (10 March), Russian importers want to bring in beer from the Dominican Republic. This decision was made against the backdrop of a tenfold increase in duties on beer from “unfriendly” countries, like the EU.

Russia’s small brewers want MUP for beer

Russia | Russia’s small brewers have asked the Ministry of Economic Development to establish a minimum unit pricing for beer, the newssite Kommersant reported on 14 March. “Opora Rossii” (“Support for Russia”), an NGO supporting small and medium-sized businesses, believes that the MUP will stop the anti-competitive practice of selling beer at below cost price, which harms small companies.

BrewDog appoints new CEO after James Arrow steps down for 'personal reasons'

United Kingdom | So many James, so little time. BrewDog has announced it has appointed a new CEO for the second time in a year. CEO James Arrow has departed for “personal reasons”, effective immediately. He had taken up the role after BrewDog’s co-founder James Watt decided to step down in May 2024.

Budweiser APAC denies axing thousands of jobs to cut costs

Belgium | AB-InBev has denied a report that thousands of jobs are on the block this year at its Asia-Pacific unit Budweiser Brewing Co APAC. Bloomberg reported on 13 March, that the firm was looking to cut operational costs by about 15 percent this year, which may include thousands of job cuts. In 2024 already, Budweiser APAC axed some 4 000 jobs, or 16 percent of its 25 000-strong workforce.

Sweden | For more than 20 years the legalisation of cellar door sales or yard sales at small breweries, wineries and distilleries has been deliberated, but successive governments just kicked the can down the road. No one dared impinge on the alcohol monopoly of the state-owned retailer Systembolaget, the guardian of public health. Now things might move quickly. The Swedish parliament is expected to vote on the government’s “freedom reform” bill at the end of April. If all goes to plan, it could become law on 1 June.

Britain lost 100 breweries last year, says SIBA

United Kingdom | The number of independent breweries in Britain declined at its fastest rate in 2024, figures from SIBA, released on 21 February, suggest. The UK had 1,715 breweries at the end of 2024, 100 fewer than at the start of the year, according to the data released by industry body SIBA, which represents independent brewing companies. The overall decline in 2023 was just eight.

Heineken sites in DR Congo hit by conflict in the east of the country

The Netherlands | Heineken has said that facilities in two cities have been looted and damaged, after the so-called M23 rebels took over territory that included the cities of Bukavu and Goma in eastern Congo in February. Heineken reported on 28 February that its fully-owned subsidiary Bralima had suspended operations before the fighting reached the cities.